Nicole Richie: Paris is my pal

Nicole Richie still classes Paris Hilton as her best friend even though they haven’t been in touch lately

The designer has opened up about her friendship with her former Simple Life co-star and admits they haven’t been hanging out much. When asked by Bravo’s Andy Cohen when she last spoke to her best buddy, Nicole explained they haven’t been in touch recently.

“I haven’t spoken to her in a while technically, but, if you really want to get into it, my view of friendship is someone that you don’t necessarily have to talk to you every day,” she said on Watch What Happens Live.

“It’s somebody that you can call when you need them, and they’re just going to be there. So, time as whether I’ve spoken to somebody is really… it doesn’t really matter in my opinion.”

The beautiful duo used to be joined at the hip but lately the pair haven’t been spotted together.

Despite their apparent distance Nicole still speaks very highly of Paris.

“An idea of a true friend is somebody that’s going to be there with you through and through,” explained the 32-year-old star.

“The short answer to this is, I haven’t spoken to her in a while, but we are very good friends. I love her and I love her family. I have a lot of respect for her.”

The pair shot to fame on their TV show The Simple life, which saw the glamorous socialites commit themselves to low-paying jobs including in fast food restaurants and on farms.

“I was 20 and I had a television network, which was Fox, come up to me and say, ‘Do you want to take a trip for 28 days and get paid for it?’ I was like, ‘OK!” smiled Nicole.

“It was great. It was like backpacking – it was with your best friend and you got paid for it and it was fun!”